The Ultimate Guide to Essential Oils for Skin Care
Essential oils Face Oils Natural Beauty Natural Skincare
Looking to add essential oils to your skincare routine? Wondering which ones and how!? Let’s take a closer look at the best essential oils for skin by skin type, how to use essential oils on skin safely, and some fun, simple ways to start adding them to your natural beauty routine!
Are essential oils part of your natural beauty routine yet?
By the end of this guide, they will be!
Essential oils can help keep skin clear, fight the signs of aging, increase skin elasticity, and so much more.
I’ve already blabbed on and on to you about my obsession with face oils and how they have helped me attain and maintain a clear, (as-close-to-)flawless(-as-I’ve-come-since-infancy) complexion. Well consider this part 2…
IN THIS BLOG POST, YOU’LL FIND:
P.S. I recently took my obsession for face oils and bottled it up! The Body Unburdened Beauty Blends are made with the highest quality organic ingredients… and so much love by yours truly just for you.
First things first, what are essential oils?
Essential oils are concentrated plant extracts.
They capture the plant’s scent and flavor, or “essence,” plus its unique chemical properties.
Because of these unique chemical properties and their benefits, essential oils have long been used in herbal and natural medicine, as well as aromatherapy.
The BIG difference between essential oils and carrier oils you must know
If you want to learn about essential oils, you’ll also need to learn about carrier oils. This is especially true if you plan to use essential oils for skin application and health!
There is a big difference between the two, though they’re most typically used hand-in-hand, blended together.
Carrier oils are vegetable oils that are derived from the fatty portion of plants, usually from the seeds, kernels or the nuts.
Examples of carrier oils: coconut oil, jojoba oil, argan oil, sunflower seed oil, rosehip seed oil, evening primrose oil, and many more.
Can essential oils be used on skin?
The answer: yes and no.
Only some essential oils are safe to use on your skin, and even those essential oils must be properly diluted in a carrier oil. You can also dilute them in butters (like shea, cocoa, or mango) or aloe vera.
Remember: essential oils are very concentrated herbal extracts and very strong!
So if applied undiluted, essential oils can cause skin irritation and burning, which we of course don’t want.
How to use essential oils on your skin: 3 must-know rules
Rule #1: Essential oils should’t be applied to the skin “neat” or undiluted
They should always be diluted in a carrier oil like argan oil, jojoba oil, pumpkin seed oil, grapeseed oil, etc.
You can find the best carrier option for your skin type here: The Best Face Oils By Skin Type
Opinions on proper dilution ratios vary, though most recommendations are between 1% and 2% of the final product.
Since there are 20 drops in 1 ml and 29 mL in 1 oz, for every 1 oz of carrier oil:
- 2% dillution = no more than 12 drops of essential oils
- 1% dillution = no more than 6 drops of essential oils
Rule #2: Be sure to do a patch test
This is to make sure your skin does not have an adverse reaction to the essential oils.
The inner forearm is a great place to do a test since the skin is delicate, similar to facial skin.
Rule #3: Some essential oils cause photosensitivity and so should not be used on the skin
In other words, these essential oils make your skin more vulnerable to UV rays. This in turn makes skin more vulnerable to uncomfortable sunburn as well as premature aging.
Essential oils that are known to cause photosensitivity:
- Angelica root Angelica archangelica
- Bergamot peel Citrus aurantium
- Bitter orange peel Citrus sinensis
- Cumin seed Cuminum cyminum
- Grapefruit peel Citrus paradisi
- Lemon peel Citrus limonum
- Lime peel Citrus aurantifolia
- Mandarin leaf Citrus reticulata
- Rue leaf Ruta graveolens
You may see varying safe dilution amounts for these essential oils. But my thought process is is: why take the risk when there are SO many other essential oils with wonderful skin benefits and no risk of photosensitivity? It’s just not worth it.
The 10 best essential oils for skin
The following ten essential oils help remedy a number of skin conditions — from acne to aging, dryness to oiliness.
And when combined with the right carrier oils — see the best face oils by skin type — you’ll see absolutely amazing results!
Carrot Seed Essential Oil — aging skin, reducing scarring
Carrot seed essential oil is rich in antioxidants, helping to neutralize inflammation and wrinkle-causing free radicals (source).
It has a rejuvenating effect on the skin, helping to keep skin smooth skin and aid cell regeneration. For this reason, it’s prized as one of the best essential oils for aging skin.
Frankincense Essential Oil— acne and blemish-prone skin, aging skin, reducing scarring, dry skin
Ah, the go-to essential oil for all skin needs!
Frankincense essential oil works wonders for all skin types. It has antibacterial and anti-inflammatory benefits to the skin, making it great for acne-prone skin. It is also a natural toner, decreasing the appearance of pores and evening skin-tone. It encourages new cell growth, helping to tighten skin and reduce wrinkles and the appearance of scars. It also helps soothe chapped, dry skin. (source)
Geranium Essential Oil — acne and blemish-prone skin, aging skin, reducing scarring, dry skin, dermatitis, eczema
This sweet-smelling essential oil also does it all.
Geranium essential oil is a powerful anti-inflammatory (source). It helps improve skin elasticity and smooth the skin. It also promotes blood circulation to the skin, helping to heal bruises, broken capillaries, burns, cuts, dermatitis, eczema, ringworm, and other skin conditions.
Lavender Essential Oil — acne and blemish-prone skin, aging skin, reducing scarring, dry skin
Lavender essential oil is one I suggest no one goes without! It smells amazing, helps you relax and your body adapt to stress, and (of course!) has great benefits for the skin.
Lavender essential oil is a powerful anti-inflammatory (source), helps speed the healing of wounds, and increase collagen production (source). This is why it’s so is great for aging, mature skin, as well as blemish-prone skin.
Myrrh Essential Oil — acne and blemish-prone skin, aging skin, reducing scarring, dry skin
Myrrh essential oil is especially great for aging and chapped, irritated skin.
It has strong antioxidant properties (source) that help improve skin tone, firmness, and skin elasticity, helping to reducing the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles. Myrrh is also one of the best essential oils for healing skin irritations and chapped skin (source).
Neroli Essential Oil — acne and blemish-prone skin, aging skin, reducing scarring, dry skin
Neroli essential oil is wonderful for oily, sensitive, and mature skin. Yes, another great essential oil for all skin types!
This antioxidant, anti-inflammatory essential oil contains a natural chemical called citral, which helps regenerate cells. For this reason, it’s said to be very good at preventing and healing stretch marks, as well as smoothing fine lines. Its antibacterial properties also aid blemish-prone skin. (source)
Patchouli Essential Oil — aging skin, reducing scarring, dermatitis, eczema
Patchouli essential oil promotes new cell growth and smooths the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles.
Because it also has antiseptic, anti-fungal, and antibacterial properties, patchouli EO is also great for skin conditions like eczema, dermatitis, psoriasis, and acne.
Rose Essential Oil — aging skin, reducing scarring, dermatitis, dry skin
Rose EO is one of the best essential oils for dry skin as well as aging, mature skin.
Researchers have found that it contains several therapeutic compounds known to promote healing, especially antimicrobial and anti-inflammatory compounds. As a result, rose essential oil helps refine skin texture and tone, and can be helpful with managing skin conditions such as psoriasis and dermatitis. Interestingly, one study even found that just inhaling rose essential oil inhibits water loss in the skin!
Studies also indicate that rose essential oil also helps alleviate stress and anxiety, which raise cortisol levels and so accelerate skin aging and can trigger breakouts! In this more holistic way, rose essential oil also benefits the skin.
Tea Tree Essential Oil — acne and blemish-prone skin
Tea tree essential oil is one of the more well-known essential oils for acne and blemish-prone skin.
Its antibacterial properties help ward off acne-causing bacteria and assist wound healing. It also helps to regulate oil production, helping fight breakouts before they even start. (source)
Ylang Ylang Essential Oil — acne and blemish-prone skin, aging skin, reducing scarring
Ylang ylang essential oil is one of my favorite essential oils because of its rich, floral fragrance. It smells amazing!
But ylang ylang is so much more than its scent: this essential oil helps control oil production and minimize breakouts. It also helps regenerate skin cells, smoothing fine lines and improving skin elasticity. (source) Another great essential oil for every skin type!
How to use essential oils in your skincare routine: 2 fun ways to get started
Essential oils play a big role in many natural skincare DIYs, to add both a natural scent and their beneficial properties.
Here are 2 fun ways to get get started:
1. Customized face oil blend
Read through How to Make A Custom Face Oil Blend (Perfect for YOUR Skin) to learn everything you need to know about selecting the right carrier and essential oils to make a face oil bend that’s perfectly suited to your skin.
And if you have blemish-prone skin, check out my DIY All-Natural Face Oil for Acne-Prone & Oily Skin.
2. Body scrub
An all-natural body scrub that exfoliates, moisturizes, and provides the aromatherapeutic and skin-loving benefits of essential oils? Yes, please! Plus, they’re SO simple to make.
- Luxurious Tangerine & Rose DIY Sugar Scrub Recipe
- Moisturizing Mojito DIY Sugar Scrub Recipe
- DIY All-Natural Vanilla Latte Body Scrub
Do you use essential oils in your skincare routine?
I’ve had amazing results with essential oils and carrier oils — my skin is clearer and brighter than it has ever been, and my acne scars and sun spots are slowly but surely fading.
Do you already incorporate essential oils in your skincare routine?
Which ones?
If not and you decide to try one or two (or more!), please give us an update on how they are working for you!
Rosewood and Sandelwood oils are also great for skin… Especially if you aren’t one that likes really flowery smelling things. I use a blend with Jojoba, grape seed and rose hip seed as carriers and rosewood, Sandelwood, geranium, lavender, and frankincense essential oils and it works great as a serum to use after using a face scrub.
Well I’m currently working on an eBook about healthy skin from the inside and out (so through nutrition and natural skincare) so I can help readers address this in the future! Because my instinct is to ask you a million questions to help you get to the bottom of it 🙂 but a single resource guide will be so much more helpful.
My digestion has no problems, very regular, no issues, thank goodness. I didn’t have this as a teenager but I eat way healthier (more whole grains, water, fruits & veggies) & more variety since moving out on my own. I also tried multiple acne (internal) medicines.
LOL to the baby. Here’s a seemingly random question: how’s your digestion? Is it good?
I think oils are a HUGE help… from the outside. You also need to tackle it from the inside through proper diet and with a healthy gut.
…19 oops. Baby hit send. I’ve tried maybe not everything but a lot of things. Including expensive prescription treatments. I’m running out of hope, patience and money. Can you please level with me? Is this going to help at all or will I be researching another acne treatment in 2 months after my face errupts in protest again? My 5 yr old has started pointing out my spots. 🙁
I have been reading about oil cleansing, it this what you do or do you leave it on? I have read so many comments on any acne treatment page of 20yr olds who have “tried everything,” I’m 35 and have had acne since I was 1
What EO can you use for under eye wrinkles? How should I mix em for that area?
Hi Nadia,
I really like your simple recipes! I just want to say to your readers, read Nadia’s entire posts and you will have your answers! Geez people! She covers it all.
Important: there is no such thing as therapeudic grade oils, as stated by Megan at Mountain Rose Herbs. Though, there is 100% pure oil and that’s what you want to use.
Thanks,
Sandy
Yep! See the important EO guidelines at the end of the post for dilution… so you’d be diluting myrrh in hemp oil and rosehip oil (both carrier oils).
I just read your post and I’m very interested in the Myrrh EO, Hemp oil and Rosehip oil. Could I use all three together? If so, what ratio of the three ingredients should I use? Also, I plan on using the mixture with my warm facial steamer. Would that be beneficial?
I think you’re phenomenal! So amazing to have ladies like you talking shop about skin care. I keep revisiting this post all the time, it’s a blessing. Thank you. Keep writing, keep blessing. 🙂
Those are carrier oils, not essential oils! This is a post about essential oils 🙂
Hi Nadia, im also using oil in my skincare routine. But they are none of what you mentioned above. Im using rosehip oil and argan oil. I read some document they also mention about grape seed oil. They r more popolar than what you listed. Anyway thank you fr your useful post !
Hi,
I would really like to know what are the best essential oil blends for under eye area ?
Great article. Most impressed that you did remove lemon essential oil and why you did it. Many do not do their homework about essential oils. Most of the citrus have a phototoxicity and care is needed when using these oils. Will recommend your site to others because you are doing your research! Thanks for the info!
Yes, thanks so much, James! That is very informative.
Hi, great article, and I see you’ve removed lemon oil for its phototoxicity concerns, but I also see that some of your readers are now afraid to use lemon oil, and that is unfortunate and unnecessary. Lemon essential oil’s phototoxicity only occurs when it is used in more concentrated amounts and when going outside immediately. You can still enjoy the benefits of this oil by 1) Diluting it sufficiently, e.g. – in a face blend, it should be no more than around 1.25% (i.e. – 1 drop of lemon essential oil per teaspoon of carrier oil), and 2) waiting 30 min-1 hour before entering direct exposure to sunlight. Taking these two precautions will be sufficient to prevent phototoxicity for all but vast majority of users. I am a certified aromatherapist and holistic health therapist in Sydney area, Australia, where we have some MEAN UV rays at times! But no problems when you follow those two precautions! Hope this helps!
I agree! Essential oils are basically are herbal medicine in very concentrated form, and we know that certain herbs have very powerful medicinal properties.
Hmm. Do you exfoliate regularly? Doing so definitely brightens the complexion. And that sounds so interesting! No I have not tried making my own vitamin C serum but would like to.
Hi Nadia,
Wonderful and informative site. I have very oily and acne prone skin ever since I hit 40. Have been using a diy Vitamin C serum at a 10% dilution with Lascorbic acid (from bulk supplements) and regular water(cant find distilled water easily at mumbai). However, I kind of break out near my chin and also get white heads on my cheeks. At such times, I use Frankincense EO and helichyrsum EO in grapeseed oil on the days I dont use the Vitamin C serum. My skin feels very smooth after the oils . However, it lacks the brightening that I get from the Vitamin C serum. Since you mention that lemon oil is phototoxic, I did not use it. Can you please suggest some oils that would give the same effect?
P.S. Have you ever tried using Vitamin C powder in an EO blend?